The class session we had based on the technological part of our class curriculum was very interesting and allowed us to play around with technological toys we didn’t know existed. Before I heard that we were going to use 3D printers for class, I knew that they existed but heard that they were very expensive and used by big companies. I had no idea that our school had their own 3D printer, yet alone that we would get to use it for whatever we want. But the Makey Makey was a tool that I didn’t even know existed, so it was amazing to get to use it in class.
Our group started planning what to make by thinking of the possible computer programs that we could control with our unique external source. After much deliberation, we decided to either play a simple computer game, like Pacman, or make a music instrument tool that we can use to play songs. When we got to the “laboratory”, I noticed that the supplies we had were few, but the possibilites with them were limitless. As we started working on a controller for our Pacman game, we realized that it would be very hard to learn how to play Pacman through a group effort on a controller that doesn’t function perfectly. After a few entertaining minutes of trying out the Pacman game, we decided to move on to make a makeshift piano and play some simple songs on it. After making a paper piano and connecting it to the Makey Makey, our musical teammates tried playing “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and “Jingle Bells” on it, and after several attempt they managed to play these two songs with ease on our unique piano.
This process correlates to the essay writing process in that they both require creativity, patience, and perseverance to create a piece of work that is your own. Just like we spend time deliberating on an idea for our project, we ponder about what the essay will be about. Afterwards, we create the project just like we would make a thesis in an essay. And we wrap up the results and see what our invention is able to do, just like we summarize and make an argument in the conclusion of an essay. This project was not only fun and allowed us to use technology that we never heard of, but it even helped us in our essay writing process.
